These Small Hours
by Scatterbrain Girl
Summary: Takes place between "Man on the Moon" and "Return Engagement" and written for the quote challenge from the forum. The title was borrowed from the Rob Thomas song.


Disclaimer: DQMW is owned by A&E, Beth Sullivan, and CBS. I just borrowed the characters.

Author's note: This was written for the quote challenge from the forum. The lines in boldface are from Neil Gaiman's "Stardust" (which, BTW, if you haven't seen the movie or read the book, its good...IMHO).

These Small Hours

Michaela woke up early that morning, just as the sun was rising over the horizon and the dark sky was becoming pale. She'd found herself doing this recently, rising with the dawn. Many times, she would try to will herself back to sleep, but most often, she stayed awake. This morning, she decided to start early instead of waiting.

She quietly dresses, as not to disturb anyone, and jotted a quick note that she left on the table before she walked out the door. She had something on her mind, and there was one person she wanted to talk to and see more than anyone else: Sully.

He'd taken to staying closer to the homestead since her abduction. It was a simple gesture that touched her deeply. She knew he wanted to protect her, but he also respected her need for self reliance, and that meant more to her than anything-that he understood her.

Following the tracks he'd made when he left the night before, she soon found the temporary shelter he'd made in the woods. As she walked towards it, she saw him sleeping, and stopped. He slept on his side, fully clothed, facing her, a few tendrils of hair falling across his face. He looked calm; not a hint of worry graced his handsome features, and a hint of a smile played on his lips. The sight of him made her melt, but she also felt as though she was a bit of a voyeur. Although they were courting and had become extremely close in the recent weeks, she felt as if this small intimacy was something she was not yet privy to, not yet allowed to see. Her worries getting the best of her, she turned to head back to the homestead.

"You leavin' so soon?" Sully said as soon as she had turned.

"Sully!" Michaela stated, surprised. "How long have you been awake?"

Sully shrugged as he sat up and brushed the hair from his face. "A few minutes." He stood up and started towards her. "I gotta say, as fond as I am of Wolf, you're a much nicer sight to wake up to."

Michaela blushed, but smiled all the same.

"What brings you out here?" Sully asked.

"Oh, well," Michaela started, now suddenly flustered, "I…nothing really. Would you like to join us this afternoon after church for a picnic? Its just going to be Brian and myself. Matthew is going off with Ingrid and Colleen is going to spend the afternoon with Becky."

Sully smiled. He knew there was something on Michaela's mind, but he wisely didn't press her on it. "I'd love to. Come on, I'll walk you back."

"Oh, you don't have to." Michaela started.

"That's ok, I want to." Sully said, taking her hand.

That afternoon, He, Michaela, and Brian sat on the blanket in the meadow. Many other families were doing the same thing, enjoying the warm spring air and the bright sunshine. With a look of slight confusing, Brian dropped the book he had been looking at earlier onto the blanket.

"I don't get it." He stated.

"Don't get what?" Sully asked, slightly amused.

Michaela picked up the book he had been looking at. It was a book on Ancient Greek myths that she had known that Colleen had been reading.

"Why were you reading this?" Michaela asked as she tried to hide the smile on her face.

"I wanted to know why Colleen was so interested in it."

"Maybe you'll understand it more when you get older." Michaela offered.

Brian shrugged and turned to Sully.

**"Sully, are you ever tempted?"**

"**Tempted, by what?"** he asked.

**"Immortality."**

**"If I could have everlasting life? I imagine it would be kind of…lonely. But maybe, if you had someone to share it with…someone to love."**

Sully made sure to look right at Michaela when he said the last sentence.

"I guess." Brian stated, his curiosity on the subject satiated for the moment.

They were nearly finished eating at that point, and Brian's friend Stephen came bounding up to them.

"Brian come see! We found this big toad by the creak. It's the size of one of Miss Grace's plates!"

"Can I go, Ma?" Brian asked.

"All right. Make sure if you stay out that you find Matthew and come home with him." Michaela said.

"I will." Brian called back as he ran off with his friend.

Michaela and Sully both shook their heads and smiled.

"How about you and me go for a walk." Sully said.

Michaela looked at all the stuff that sat in front of them. She knew she would have to clean up and then clean the dishes when she returned home, but she did want to talk with Sully; very much.

"Don't worry about this stuff. It'll keep." He said, helping her put everything back in the basket and then loading it into the wagon. Once they dropped everything off at the homestead, they walked together in amiable silence, holding hands.

Sully could sense that there was something on Michaela's mind, he had all day. He was at first willing to wait until she was ready to tell him herself, but his patience finally wore thin.

"You wanna tell me what's on your mind?"

"What do you mean?" She answered, trying to deny it.

Sully gave her a look that clearly said she wasn't fooling him in the slightest. Michaela sighed and looked away.

"Hey," Sully said, stopping and turning her towards him, his fingers gently moving her face towards his, "You know there's nothing you can't say to me."

"Its just…"she started.

"Just what?" Sully asked, moving them towards an old fallen log and sitting down in it, Michaela following suit.

"I've been thinking a lot about us recently. About what's happened, where we stand…"

She looked down again, and he reached out to hold her hand in his. "You know there's nothing that would ever change the way I feel about you, Michaela, nothing." He said. "that's the way love's supposed to be, ain't it?"

**"Well, yes. I know love is supposed to be unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable, and strangely easy to mistake for loathing…"**

"Loathing?" Sully asked, hardly keeping a straight face.

"There were plenty of times we weren't exactly nice to each other in the past, Sully…" she admitted, a hint of guilt in her voice.

"Yeah…"Sully conceded, feeling guilty himself. "I'm sorry about that…"

"There's no need to be." Michaela said, squeezing his hand. She steeled herself to continue. "**My heart…it feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like its trying to escape because it doesn't belong to me anymore. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I'd wish for nothing in exchange-no fits. No goods. No demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you loved me too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine."**

Sully didn't say anything; rather, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. His hand came up and gently caressed her cheek. He then gave her lips a feather-light kiss; so gentle and yet so filled with emotions that it made them both catch their breath.

"I…I don't know what's going to happen in the future…" Michaela started again.

"You don't have to." Sully interjected. "All we need to know is that we love each other."

"But…what if…"She began to say, and once again, Sully stopped her.

"**What do the stars do,** Michaela?" he asked.

Michaela looked at him confused; unsure of where he was going with this train of thought.

"They shine." He answered. "What does the heart do? It loves. Right now, that's all we need to know."

Then, Sully stood up, and held out his hand to help her stand.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you, too." Michaela answered, looking into his eyes and smiling.

They shared a long, sweet kiss, and then, hand in hand, they walked home, as the sun sank lower towards the horizon.


End file.
